New Delhi: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar within 48 hours as he was violating the rights of the voters. In his absence, the party cautioned there would be a “Jantar Mantar 2.0”.
Abhijeet Dipke, who is the founder of CJP, made the demand in a press conference citing the turmoil in the electoral rolls due to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. Dipke claimed the election was rigged and people had lost their right to vote. He termed Kumar as the country’s ‘biggest anti-national’.
If Kumar does not go, Dipke said, the party will start a nationwide protest before moving on to a protest in Delhi. The party claims that it is prepared to remain in the city of Delhi for an extended period of time and will call off the movement when the time comes, announcing its events and venues in advance. The agitation was proposed to be run along the lines of the protest at Jantar Mantar in June, CJP said.
The party’s demands are much more than just Kumar’s removal. It requests criminal action against him, an explanation regarding who sent him orders, the removal of the voter list for January 2025 and the repeal of the law on election commissioners appointed in 2023. It further seeks that all future elections are suspended and a fresh investigation be conducted into the SIR and the decision making process in relation to it be handed over to the Supreme Court.
The ultimatum comes on the heels of a report of a disagreement within the poll body. In the preceding 10 months, the Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had voiced concerns on many issues of SIR such as objection over voter additions, deletions and their restoration, Form 6 changes, handling of roll data etc. The Election Commission has denied that this would signal a rift among its three members.
A day ago, the CJP had announced that it would now turn its attention to electoral reforms and functioning of the Election Commission. Its campaign over this is termed “Election Commission Thik Karo”.
Kumar has been tested previously. The Rajya Sabha Chairman and Speaker of the Lok Sabha in April rejected notices of removing a member from their position by the opposition.
As of the writing of this report, the Commission has yet to respond to the CJP’s ultimatum.
